Matthew's Pokemon Journey
by Firepokemontrainer
Summary: Matthew is a boy who dreams of one day challenging his dad, a veteran trainer whose traveled through various regions. In order to get there, he has to do his own journey. Many surprises are in store. To find out what they are, you have to tune in to see.
1. Three Friends, One Journey

Matthew's journey

Chapter 1: Three friends, one journey

It's a warm sunny day in New Bark Town as a boy wakes up, ready to start the day. His name is Matthew, and today is the day that he starts his journey as a Pokémon trainer. He spent the last week packing up his bag with the essentials that any trainer is going to need on a long journey.

He gets on his clothes which consist entirely of blue: Shirt, jean shorts, and blue-white shoes. He looks at himself in the mirror and staring back at him is his reflection, a kid with messy short blond hair and green eyes. After grabbing his bag, Matthew made his way down to the kitchen to have his last meal for a while at home.

Matthew lived alone with his mom. His dad was a Pokémon trainer who was off in a far region perfecting his Pokémon's abilities. Matthew has made it his goal to one day find his dad and see just how good of a trainer he's become. Matthew's dad looks similar to him except he had brown hair instead of Matthew's messy blond hair.

"Morning mom is breakfast ready yet?" he asked as he entered the living room to place his bag on the floor.

His mom was a typical stay at home mom. Unlike Matthew, she had brown shoulder length hair, brown eyes, wearing a red blouse with black pants.

"It's almost ready Matthew!" his mom replied. "I can't believe that you'll be on your journey soon. It seems like only yesterday that you were just born and your father was still at home taking care of us."

She brought the meal over to Matthew, which consisted of pancakes, eggs and bacon. She had another plate that she took over and started eating next to him.

"Yeah, I miss dad. Do you think he'd want to battle me someday?" he asked as he took a bite of his meal.

"I'm sure your father will battle you one day Matthew, but you'll have to try and find him first. He's always traveling around, so it's hard to say where he'd be now."

Matthew finished his breakfast and was ready to head out the door, when he saw his mom standing next to it waiting for him. In her hand was a package.

"Matthew, before you go, I have something to give to you. I got you a Poké Gear. You can use this to call me if you are not at a Pokémon Center. I heard that if you go to Goldenrod City, they are upgrading pokegears to include a new radio feature."

"Thanks mom, I'll be sure to check out Goldenrod City to see if it's true." He went up to her and gave her a loving hug. After this, she moved off to the side to allow him to leave.

As he gets ready to leave, he looked once more at his mom. He knew that his mom would be ok by herself, since Ralph, their pet Growlithe was there to protect them. Then from out of nowhere, a black and orange blur runs down the stairs and pounces on Matthew, knocking him down, and it starts to lick him. It was Ralph.

"Alright boy, knock it off!" Matthew says, wiping the slobber off of his face. The fire Pokémon steps away as Matthew gets up and wimpers.

"I guess I'm not the only one who will miss you," Matthew's mom says, smiling.

"I'm sorry boy, but I can't take you with me. Besides, someone needs to keep mom company while I'm away. I'm counting on you boy."

"Growlithe!" Ralph barks, as if it was saying will do. Before he heads out of the door, his mom has one final thing to say to him.

"When you are out on the road traveling, I want you to be careful. I heard that the Pokemon Center was attacked a couple of days ago by two members of Team Rocket. Luckily, there was a trainer there who stopped them in time but they escaped before officer Jenny could get there. You don't know when they might pop up."

"Don't worry mom, I'll be fine. I'll have Toya to help out if I need it." He replies. He opens the door and walks out.

Matthew's house is centered on the opposite side of New Bark Town, next to a forest. A boy named Sage was sleeping in a hammock strung up twenty feet between two trees near the house. The boy awoke to the sound of Matthew's door opening up when his eyes could focus, he found a Kakuna in his face. Startled, he falls out of the hammock and onto Matthew.

"Oof!" Matthew says as the boy lands on top of him. He pushes the boy off and gets up, dusting himself off. Matthew's Mom sees that he is ok and closes the door. Matthew then looks at the boy who gets up. The boy had on a black sweatshirt, brown shorts and black sneakers. His hair matches the green of the forest near them and one particular section stands straight up in the middle of his head. It takes Matthew a minute but he instantly recognizes him.

"Hey, aren't you that kid that hangs out in the woods? Your name is Sage right? Boy, I sure wasn't expecting you to just drop on to me like that!"

Sage proceeded to straighten his sweatshirt. From the sun, Matthew could see that Sage's hair color matched that of the surrounding forest. His brown eyes still had a sleepy look to them.

"Yeah. Sorry about that, I hope that you're ok." Sage replied. He quickly climbed back up the tree to get his backpack and his hammock, then jumped back down and landed on his feet with both in his hands. As he packed the hammock away, he looked up at Matthew. "So why are you up so early?" he asked.

"I'm on my way to Professor Elm's lab. I get my starter today, along with my friend Toya." Matthew replied. He watched Sage as he put away the hammock and zipped up his bag.

"Wow, what a coincidence, I'm heading there today as well. I might actually be on time too! Do you wanna walk there with me?"

"Sure! By the way sage, my name is Matthew."

"Nice to meet you Matthew, or do you prefer Matt?"

As Sage asks Matthew this, they start walking towards the lab.

"Either is fine with me. So why do you do you always hang out in the woods?"

"I don't know, I've just always felt... right when I'm in the forests next to a raging river. My mom says I was raised by wolves." he said jokingly.

Matthew smiled. "Oh, I see. Well I find it cool that you like being out in nature. As for me, I'm at home either way, out in the woods or in a city or town. When my dad was at home with us, he used to take me out camping."

"Hey, I think I might remember seeing you. Weren't you the kid that got scared of the Butterfree?"

"It was only because the Pokémon startled me! I'm not usually scared like that!"

Sage laughed. "It's ok. Actually I think it might have been a small Venomoth. They can be really scary when they're crossed."

"Hey I think I see my friend. Hey Toya!" he called out, waving to his friend. Toya had brown hair that stood up (like Lucas from Diamond and Pearl), blue eyes, and he had on a grey sweatshirt, blue jeans and green sneakers.

Toya comes up to the pair. "What took you so long? I was starting to wonder if you overslept!" He looks over at Sage. "Who's this guy Matthew?"

"This is Sage. You know the same guy that hangs out in the woods most of the time? He landed on me when I was leaving my house."

Sage chimed in. "I think I might have caused him personal injury, but I don't think it was anything really bad."

"Matthew's tough, he's probably fine. By the way Matthew, I got a call from Logan yesterday."

Logan is an old friend of Matthew and Toya's cousin. He had to move when his dad was offered a job by the Silph Corporation. He is nearly identical to Toya except he has black hair and blue eyes.

"How is he? I haven't gotten the chance to talk with him since he left last year." Matthew replies.

"He started his Pokemon Journey yesterday. Due to the Indigo League already done for the year there, he is coming out to compete in the Johto League. I told him to meet up with us at Cherrygrove City."

"Awesome! I can't wait to see him! I wonder what he started out with." Matthew says. "Toya, why don't you knock on the door to let Professor Elm know that we are here."

Toya does so and a few minutes later, a man with brown hair opens the door. He was wearing a blue shirt with a yellow stripe running across the middle, green pants, brown shoes and a lab coat. "Ah, you must be the new trainers here to pick up your Pokémon. Please, follow me."

The boys all follow him into the lab, where they see a bunch of computer equipment. A man with gray hair wearing a similar lab coat with a red shirt, brown pants and shoes was sitting at a desk that had two chairs. The man looked up as the boys entered.

"Oh, I almost forgot! My name is Professor Elm, head Pokémon researcher of this laboratory. Aside from handing out the starters to trainers like you, I spend a lot of my time doing research on the different abilities that Pokémon possess. There are many fascinating discoveries that I hope to discover-"

"Ahem!" said the gray-haired man. "I'm sorry to interrupt you Professor, but I think that these kids want to get their Pokémon, not hear a lecture all day!"

He stands up and walks over to the boys. "My name is Professor Oak. Professor Elm is an old student of mine and I was told that he was giving new trainers their Pokémon today. What are your names?"

"My name is Matthew."

"I'm Sage."

"And mine's Toya."

Professor Oak takes a moment to let the names sink in. "It's nice to meet you. I wanted to give you boys a special gift, and I have it here."

Oak takes out 3 red devices from his pocket and places them on the table. He turns them on, places the names of the trainers into them, and steps back so the trainers can see. "These red devices you see on the table are my own invention, the Pokédex. These contain the latest information on every Pokémon that's currently been discovered. I have one for each of you. Please, take the one that has your name registered in it."

The boys do as he asks and they stand there with it in their hands. Elm motions them to come over to a table that has 3 Pokémon sitting on them eating. "These are the Pokémon I have to give to you boys. In order from the left are Chikorita, the Grass starter, Cyndaquil, the Fire starter, and Totodile, the water starter. Toya, why don't you pick first?"

Toya goes up to the table and looks at the three Pokémon. After giving a bit of thought, he picks up Totodile. "I think I'll take Totodile Professor!"

"Totodile is a decent choice, though they can be tough to handle. Ok, Sage, you have the next pick."

Sage goes up and Chikorita comes right up to Sage. "I guess I'm taking Chikorita, since it appears to want to go with me!"

"Chikorita is an easy Pokémon to raise." Professor Oak said. "They have a tendency to avoid fights in the wild, but will fight for its trainer."

Matthew was the last one to go up, and the only starter left was Cyndaquil. "I guess Cyndaquil is mine then Professor."

"Cyndaquil is a bit young, but if you spend enough time training it, it'll become strong in no time Matthew. Take very good care of it." Professor Elm remarked. He then goes over to a tray and wheels it over with 18 Pokéballs, split out in 3 areas. He picks up the first Pokéball from each group and hands it to the boys. "These are your starter's Poké Ball. Use these to keep your starter safe. The other 5 Pokéballs are yours to catch Pokémon with. Before you go and catch them though it's best to weaken them."

"There is a limit to how many Pokémon you catch." Professor Oak added. "At any given time, you are allowed 6 Pokémon on you. Any other Pokémon will be transported to my laboratory in Kanto. If you want to exchange them, all you have to do is call me up and I'll send you it via the video phone."

"Thanks for the information Professor Oak!" The three boys say in unison. They pick up their Pokéballs and place them on their belts.

"I guess that's everything. I got to get going back to my lab. Will you boys follow me out?"

The boys just nod their heads. They follow Oak out with Elm following behind them. Outside the lab, Professor Oak heads toward the road east, and waves goodbye to the kids. Professor Elm turns to them. "Well, I wish you all the best on your journey. Make sure you register at the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center for the League. I'll be looking forward to hearing from you on how you are all doing."

The three boys wave goodbye as Elm heads back into his lab. Sage stops walking, and the other boys notice.

"Sage, what's wrong?" asks Matthew.

"Well, I was wondering if I could come with you guys. I liked meeting you guys and I would like to travel with you, if you will let me."

"Sure," Toya said, "The more the merrier."

So the three boys head out onto the road leading to Cherrygrove City. What kinds of Pokémon await them?


	2. First Captures!

Chapter 2: First Captures!

When we last left our group, the boys were just heading out on their journey. It's been three days since they left New Bark town. All three were eager to make to make their first capture, but which one would be able to get it first? After a while of walking, the boys come across a sign that points to the right to a picnic area.

"Hey guys," Toya said, "Why don't we take a break for a while and have lunch at the picnic area? We could also let our Pokémon out to play."

"Sounds like a good idea to me! Come on guys let's go!" replied an eager Sage. The three boys sprint to the area which quickly opens up into a clearing set up with four picnic tables. Sage stops as he hears the sound of running water nearby.

"Hey, do you guys feel like having fish for lunch? There is a river nearby that I could get the fish from."

Matthew is the first to reply. "I'm up for fish. There's nothing like a healthy meal to keep us going on the road for a while longer."

"I guess if you want to do it, be my guest Sage." Toya remarks, with a hesitant look on his face.

"Don't worry guys, I'll bring back the best fish imaginable!" with that Sage takes off for the river.

Matthew takes Cyndaquil's Pokéball off his belt and throws the ball. "Cyndaquil, come on out!" he says as he tosses the ball.

The ball opens and a ball of white energy comes out and turns into the shape of the echidna pokemon. Since Cyndaquil is not in a battle, red spots are on its back instead of the usual flames. "Cyndaquil?" The Pokémon says with a curious look.

"Matthew, why did you call Cyndaquil out?" Toya curiously asked.

"Well, if we are gonna eat, I think our Pokémon deserve to have a meal as well." replies Matthew. He opens his pack up and sets out three bowls on the table. He then opens up 3 cans of Pokémon Food and pours the first into one bowl and a second one it into another bowl. He grabs the two bowls and sets one of them down in front of Cyndaquil.

Toya takes a Pokeball off of his belt and throws the ball. "Time to eat Totodile!"

Like Cyndaquil, Totodile appears in a flash of white from the ball. It is a blue reptile pokemon with red spikes on going from head to tail and a Yellow stripe across its chest. "Totodile!" the little crocodile Pokémon said, happy to be out of its ball.

Matthew places the other bowl on the ground next to Totodile. "Here Totodile, I have some Pokémon Food for you as well. Eat up!"

"Toto!" the water Pokémon replies. It starts chowing down on the kibble-like food. Matthew and Toya have their backs turned so they don't notice a small brown Pokémon with a long ringed-tail sneaking up on the can of Pokémon Food. Totodile looks up from its food and notices the Pokémon. "Toto! Toto!" The water Pokémon shouts. Matthew and Toya turn around to see Sentret trying to get into the can for some food.

"Hey Matthew, I think that's a Sentret there. Want to confirm it with the Pokédex?" Toya asks.

"Sure thing." Matthew replied. He pulled out the red device and pointed it at the Pokémon.

Sentret, the Scout Pokémon. It uses its tail to get a better view of its surroundings. It'll alert the others in its group if it sees a predator.

"So, who gets to catch it Matthew?" asks Toya.

"Go for it. I'm setting my eye on something else." Matthew reples.

"Ok Totodile, let's nab our first capture!" Toya calls to the little alligator. Totodile dashes over to its trainer's side.

"Totodile, use Scratch on Sentret!" Toya commands.

"Toto!" Totodile uses its claws on one hand and scratches Sentret. "Sentret!" Sentret attacks Totodile with a full body tackle, knocking the water Pokémon back.

"Use Water Gun!" Toya commands once again.

"Totooodile!" Totodile releases a jet of water from its mouth that hits the brown rodent. As Sentret gets up, a big splash comes from the river that startles Sentret and it runs away. A bit later, Sage comes with a net full of fish, and a wet Chikorita. Chikorita goes over into a sunny area and lays down to dry off.

"Sorry about the splash guys! While I was fishing, Chikorita accidentally picked up a Goldeen and it pulled Chikorita into the water. Chikorita released it and came back all wet." As Sage said this, Toya had an annoyed look on his face.

"Sage, thanks to that little incident, I lost a Pokémon that I was going to capture! Now what am I gonna do?!" Toya shouts at Sage.

"Whoa dude, take it easy! I believe that Chikorita's Sweet Scent can bring it back." Looking at Chikorita, he calls out to the grass Pokémon "Chikorita, use Sweet Scent!"

"Chikor!" the little grass starter says. It releases a sweet aroma from its leaf that spreads out in all directions. Soon, two Pokémon were drawn towards the source of the scent. One was Sentret; the other was a small bird Pokémon. Matthew scans the bird with his Pokédex.

Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon. If removed from their nest, Pidgey can easily find their way back. If approached by an enemy, they will kick up sand to blind their foe.

"Nice Sage, you attracted a Pidgey as well!" Matthew says. "Cyndaquil, let's go and catch Pidgey!"

"Cynda!" The Pokémon happily replies as it runs towards it's trainer's side.

"Ok Cyndaquil, Start off with Tackle!"

"Cynda! CyndaQUIL!" Cyndaquil launches a full body tackle at Pidgey, while Pidgey uses the same attack which knocks both Pokémon back.

Seeing Matthew in the battle, Toya decides to once again try to capture the Sentret whom is enticed by the Sweet Scent.

"Totodile, use Water Gun on Sentret!" commands Toya.

"TotoDILE!" The water Pokémon sprays a jet of water from its mouth, knocking Sentret down. After that, Sentret tries to get up, apparently looking tired. Toya grabs a Pokéball from his belt and tosses it at the Pokémon. "Go Pokéball!"

The Pokéball hits Sentret, opens and sucks the Pokémon in with a flash of red energy. Once inside, the ball closes and drops to the ground and starts to shake, the button on the ball containing a red glow. After about 8 shakes, the ball stops shaking and the red light disappears, signaling the Pokémon is caught. Toya walks over to the ball and picks it up. "Alright! I just caught my first Pokémon!" Toya remarks.

At the same time this is happening, Matthew continues to battle Pidgey, who whips up a Sand Attack at Cyndaquil. "Cyndaquil, use Fury Swipes on Pidgey!"

"Cynda! Cynda, Cynda, Cynda, Cynda!" The Fire Pokémon attacks with a barrage of paw swipes, with the last delivering a decent amount of damage to Pidgey. Seeing the Pokémon is tired, Matthew throws his empty Pokéball. "Pokéball, Go!"

Just like Sentret, Pidgey disappears into the ball, and it starts shaking. After 8 shakes, the ball stops shaking and the glow disappears. Matthew picks it up and looks over at Toya, who caught his Pokémon just moments ago.

"Hey Toya, what do you think? We both managed to catch our first pokemon! It wouldn't have been possible without Sage, right?"

"I guess so. Thanks for helping us out Sage." Toya said, not looking at Sage.

"Come on guys, let's go cook and eat the fish and then get moving!"

Matthew pours the third can of Pokémon food into the last bowl. He places it on the ground next to the other two. Chikorita runs over to eat, while Cyndaquil and Totodile run over to the food to continue eating. While they eat, Matthew goes over to his back pack and pulls out his box of matches. "Toya, why don't you and Sage go collect some wood for the fire? I'll get the fish ready for cooking."

The two boys nod and go off in search of wood. They come back about ten minutes later with Toya carrying a small bundle of wood. By this time Matthew has the fish all skinned and ready to be cooked on a pan that his mom gave him. "Just place the wood on that mound there." He says, pointing to a pile of debris. Toya does so and Matthew takes a match and lights the fire. He places the pan on top of a stand and sets it on top of the fire.

Meanwhile, the three Pokémon finish their meal. Chikorita goes to lie out in the sun while Totodile and Cyndaquil chase after each other. A half-hour later, the boys finish eating their barbecued fish and pack the stuff up. They then pull out their respective Pokéballs and recall all three Pokémon to them. Once that's done, they set off on the road leading to Cherrygrove City.

They finally reach the edge of the city by late afternoon. They decide that it would be a good idea to rest up at the center tonight and continue out first thing in the morning.

As they enter the Pokémon Center, they see another trainer with blue hair a black coat with red trimmings, blue jeans and red shoes. A woman with red hair and a nurse's hat wearing a pink dress hands him his Pokédex. Once he takes it, he turns and walks past the boys, only giving them a glance and he heads out the door, with an Eevee following him.

"Was that what I think it was?" Matthew asks.

"Looked like an Eevee to me. That boy is lucky to have one, they're pretty rare." Toya replies.

The boys walk up to the counter with the Nurse standing right on the other side.

"Welcome to the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center." The nurse says with a cheerful tone. My name is Nurse Joy. I'm assuming that you boys are here to sign up for the Johto League?" she asks them.

"Sure thing Nurse Joy! I believe that my friend Matthew is gonna sign up too, right?" Sage responds.

"Yeah, you can count me in!" Matthew replies.

"Not me. I've been thinking a lot about what I want to actually do, and I don't think the league is right for me. I'll still be here Matthew, cheering both you guys on from the sidelines." Toya states.

"Ok, I just need to have you give me your Pokédex, and I'll use that to register you." Nurse Joy states. Sage hands his Pokédex over first to the Nurse and in a couple of minutes, she hands back the device to Sage. "Ok Sage, you are all ready to go. Next?" Sage stands off to the side as Mathew steps up and hands Nurse Joy his Pokédex. A couple of minutes go by and Nurse Joy hands the Pokédex back to Matthew. "Okay Matthew, you're all set. Now, is there anything else that I can do for you boys today?"

"Yes Nurse Joy. Toya and I both caught our first Pokémon and they need to be healed." Matthew replies.

"Ok, it'll be just one minute. Chansey, I need a cart wheeled out here!" Nurse Joy calls out. They hear a voice call out "Chansey!" and a moment later, a Pink egg carrying Pokémon with a Nurse's cap wheeling a cart comes down the hallway. Matthew scans the Pokémon in his Pokédex.

Chansey, the Egg Pokémon. Chansey are notorious for nursing Pokémon back to health. Because of this, every Pokémon Center has at least one of these hard to find Pokémon.

"Please place your Pokéballs on the cart here. Chansey will then take your Pokémon to get healed. You can pick them up in the morning before you leave."

"Thank you Nurse Joy." Matthew replies as he and Toya place their injured Pokémon on the cart and Chansey rolls it away.

"There is a cafeteria down the hall if you want to go grab your food. I'm going to go help Chansey in the back with your Pokémon." Nurse Joy said. She then walks down the corridor to the doors that Chansey came through. Toya notices a small pamphlet off to the side and picks it up. Inside contains all the major attractions around the Johto region, including the eight gyms of the Johto League.

"Hey guys, it says here that the closest gym to us is Violet City which is the next town over. It's about a two day journey from here over to Violet City. It also says that the Gym Leader raises Flying-Type Pokémon."

"Speaking of Flying-Types," Sage pipes in, "I heard that Hoothoot come out at around this time. I think getting one will be a sweet first catch! All we have to do is find one. Do you guys want to come with me?"

"Sure!" Toya and Matthew said in unison. The three of them leave the Pokémon Center and start to look for the Hoothoot. At first the search turns up noting, until Sage hears a familiar cry.

"Hoothoot! Hoothoot!" hoots the voice of a Hoothoot standing on a branch in 5 feet away from them. Sage pulls out his Pokédex to learn more about Hoothoot.

Hoothoot, the Owl Pokémon. Hoothoot are known to hoot at the exact time every day. Many people keep them as time keepers because of this trait.

"Sweet. Ok Chikorita, let's do it!" Sage throws Chikorita's Pokéball and out comes the leaf Pokémon ready for battle. "Chikor!"

"Ok Chikorita, use Tackle!

Hoothoot comes in for a Tackle, while Chikorita does the same as well, with the grass type's attack doing more to Hoothoot. Hoothoot is not weak yet, and comes back with another Tackle.

"Chikorita, use your vines to catch Hoothoot!" Chikorita does so and its vines wrap around Hoothoot's body. "Send it flying Chikorita!"

"Chikor, Chikor!" Chikorita follows Sage's command and throws Hoothoot high. "Now let's finish it off with Razor Leaf!" "Chikor!" Chikorita swings its leaf and groups of 5 leaves come out and hit Hoothoot. The Pokémon lands and tries to get up despite the damage it took. "Alright, time to catch you Hoothoot! Pokéball go!" Sage releases the ball from his hand and it hits the owl Pokémon, opens up and sucks it inside. The ball then closes and starts shaking. Eight shakes later, the red light disappears and the ball stops. Sage goes and picks up the ball.

"Cool, I got Hoothoot." Sage said. "Come on guys, let's get back to the center and get it healed."

Morning arrives and the boys eat breakfast after spending the night at the Pokémon Center. After they finish, they pick up their respective Pokéballs and are about to leave when a young trainer with Black hair wearing a red T-shirt, blue jeans and brown shoes enters, making them stop. He's an identical match to Toya.

"Logan, long time no see couz!" Toya says.

"Hey Toya!" Logan replies, looking at the three boys. "It's been a while since I've seen both you and Matthew. Who's the other guy?"

"That's Sage, the boy who always is hanging out in the woods. He's traveling with me and Matthew."

"Cool. So, any of you want to see how our skills match in a battle? I've been itching to have a one since I got to Cherrygrove." Logan said.

Who is gonna be Logan's opponent? Find out in chapter 3, coming up soon! Please leave me a review on what I can do to improve.


End file.
